


Moonlit glow

by CureIcy



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood, Gen, Magic, Uncanny Valley, conan is absolutely terrifying, especially when he tries to be, everything is terrifying, have fun
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-08
Updated: 2020-04-08
Packaged: 2021-03-01 23:15:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,843
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23545234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CureIcy/pseuds/CureIcy
Summary: Kaito has been losing track of time, and he's scared of what that means.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 160





	Moonlit glow

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Shadow of the mind](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11697663) by [Dissenter](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dissenter/pseuds/Dissenter). 



It starts with a flash of red that floats independently in his memory, untethered by context. What does it mean?

* * *

Kaitou Kid is back after years on hiatus, but Kaito doesn’t get to see it happen. He ends up going to bed early, and yet he’s still tired in the morning. He makes sure to find the news footage online, though, because it’s not every day a magician thief appears. And Kid is incredible! Some of the tricks he’s working on are so far above Kaito’s own that he wants to experience the magic himself. He always ends up going to bed before heists, though, so he’s stuck watching the footage.

It’s not like he supports law breaking, but it’s a harmless outlet for him. He tries to tone down the fanboyishness in front of Aoko, he really does, but she’s so passionately anti-Kid that the thief ends up becoming their main topic of argument.

* * *

Aoko asks him why he didn’t come to her birthday party. Kaito can’t remember anything since glancing outside the window and thinking the sunset looked lovely, and then…

... Fireworks, just for her. Apparently he’s the one who set them up. He doesn’t remember this. He plays it off, but it’s a little worrying.

* * *

Fireworks again. He hears the word clear as daylight in his mind, but doesn’t know who said it. The voice sounds young, childish, even. Why does he remember this?

* * *

When he comes over for breakfast like he always does, Aoko’s dad keeps looking at him strangely. Asking questions like, where were you last night? How good are you at magic tricks, really? Good enough to disappear in front of a crowd of officers?

Aoko leaps to his defense, and asks him out on a date, of all things, to prove his innocence. Kaito can’t say he dislikes the idea; he’s had a mild crush on Aoko for years, but this isn’t the way he wanted to go out with her. He wanted it to be mutual and romantic, not something done out of necessity to defend his honor.

Still, it’s nice. She shows up in a cute sundress with a matching hat, blushing slightly when he gives her a silk rose to match. This one is pink, for grace and happiness, and she freezes up before throwing her arms around him. He wishes their date wasn’t tainted by the awkwardness of all this, but it’s pleasant to spend time with her anyways.

He falls asleep in the middle of the 3D movie. He’s so tired these days, and his rests never seem to be enough. (Why is she unclipping a handcuff from his wrist when he wakes up? Did the thought of Kaito being Kid rattle her so badly?) But it’s all worth it when they’re sitting by the fountain and eating ice cream together, and he sees the moonlight reflected in her hair and is reminded anew of just how beautiful his childhood friend is.

* * *

The transfer student from England, Hakuba something-or-other, saunters up to Kaito before class and confidently declares him to be Kaitou Kid.

“I’m sorry, what? What reason would I have for that?” Kaito asks, looking in bemusement at the blonde. It feels like everyone is accusing him of that lately, upon just meeting him. He’ll be the first to admit that his name probably sounds suspicious, but it’s not his fault his parents had weird senses of humor.

Hakuba stops, opens his mouth to speak, and then walks away. Kaito goes back to his homework and swears he’s not the only one around here who needs more sleep. This paranoia isn’t doing anyone any good.

* * *

Red, red as rubies blooming like a rose in an ocean of blue surrounded on either side by white sands. It bursts into life, and then withers and dies, turning the rusty brown of old blood.

That’s what it is, he realizes, old blood on a blue shirt under a white jacket. His tie is missing, and he thinks it might have been used as a weapon at some point. Kaito lifts his head, narrowing his eyes in the moonlight that suits him perfectly. He walks forward on the rooftop, languidly, almost flowing as he approaches his prey.

A man dressed in black fearfully reloads his gun, but it’s too late.

A feral smile forms on Kaito’s lips.  _ “You cannot kill me in any way that matters.” _

Kaito wakes up and pulls off his shirt, looking for the source of the phantom pain that lingers even after his dream is gone, and finds a silvery scar that’s already fading in the moonlight. A soft plink draws his attention, and he finds a bullet that’s fallen to the floor beside his bed. It’s still there when the sun rises, but the scar is gone.

* * *

The next time Aoko brings up Kaitou Kid, he starts to feel sick. “I’m not really a fan anymore,” he says to her. 

“Good! He doesn’t deserve your admiration.”

He doesn’t have the heart to tell her it’s not like that, but she’ll worry if she sees how scared he is. He changes the subject.

* * *

“I’m losing my mind,” he whispers to the portrait of his dad.

“No, Kaito,” comes the response. He looks up to see that the portrait has been replaced with one of Kid, brim pulled low to hide his face. Kid lifts his hat, and Kaito has the sickening sensation of looking in a mirror, but it’s all wrong. There’s an all too familiar flash of red in his eyes, and a grin that doesn’t belong on his face as he says, “You’re not losing anything, see. It’s being stolen from you.”

* * *

Kaito enlists Hakuba for help, in a roundabout way.

“I’ll prove I’m not Kid so you’ll get off my back about it for once,” he says flippantly.

Apparently that proof involves them being handcuffed together at the heist, which is… unexpected, but it’s a solid alibi. 

“You know, you probably should have asked. It would have been really awkward if I needed to pee right now,” he jokes.

“Like I’d let you out of my sight,” he huffs.

After that, it’s dark, and someone yells about Kid cutting the power. Kaito doesn’t know when the physical blackout ends and the mental one begins, just that when the heist is over, he’s still there and Hakuba is handcuffed to him, napping on a bench in the lobby.

“Wake up, sleepyhead,” Kaito says, poking him relentlessly until he does. Because a bench does not look comfortable, and Kaito needs to go home soon if he’s going to get any sleep. He’s tired these days, so tired, and it’s hard to tell if it’s physical or mental. Maybe it’s going to be over now.

Except the relief he felt fades like morning dew when Hakuba accuses Kaito of using sleeping gas on him when the heist started. And Kaito doesn’t want to believe it, doesn’t say that his own blackout corresponds perfectly with the heist, and makes some excuse about it being impossible for him to carry that amount of clothing and equipment with him. He left the house with his phone and wallet, and that’s all.

They argue. Hakuba tries to bring him to the police station, and for a minute all Kaito can see is red  _ red RED _ and then suddenly he’s no longer handcuffed to the detective, and a voice that isn’t his own says,  _ “Good night, tantei-san. Please don’t harass him again; he’s just a humble magician. You should be chasing me instead!” _

The blackout that follows is merciful.

* * *

He can feel the other presence in his head now that he knows what he’s looking for. Just for a few seconds, it’s there, like footsteps when someone enters the room before they throw a bag over your head and cart you off to some unknown location. Maybe that’s a rather dramatic metaphor, but it’s not far off. Sometimes he wakes up in strange places, like when he found himself on top of a giant cage in a library, or the time he woke up with a cold and his hair smelled like the ocean.

Just a few moments when he realizes Kid is there before the thief takes over and Kaito blacks out. That’s all there is. All he has. He can’t fight it, can’t even say anything. He’s tried everything-- he’s locked himself in his basement, taken a risky dose of cold medication to make himself drowsy and hopefully hinder Kid, gotten on a train to the other end of town, but Kid seems unfazed by all of it, and it’s enough to make him wonder if maybe he’s just imagining things.

_ No, I’m just magic. Nice try, though! _ Kid’s voice laughs in his ear and he doesn’t know what happens next.

* * *

Would jail be enough to hold him? Would it hold Kid? He doesn’t know. He knows it would hurt Aoko. 

He’s sitting on a bench outside the museum Kid’s planning to rob and contemplating this when a child with a bowtie and glasses comes to sit next to him. “What are you thinking about?” the kid chirps.

“What makes you say I’m thinking about anything?”

“You’re not inside trying to get a glimpse of Kid, and you’re not preparing either. Most people are excited or angry, but you looked sad. I want to know why.”

“You’re pretty observant, aren’t you.” There’s no way Kaito can explain his situation, but weirdly enough, he feels like he owes this weird elementary schooler for at least noticing that he’s upset. “Do you believe in magic?”

“No.” It’s said firmly, decisively. “If there are things in this world that can only be explained with magic, I haven’t found them yet. Magic is an explanation given to fools who can’t understand the way the world works, and it’s insulting that I’m expected to believe in it.”

“Don’t you want to believe in the wonder of it?”

“Do you?” the child refutes.

Maybe he doesn’t anymore. Maybe he’s scared to touch a deck of cards after he started flipping through a pack and found the joker, razor sharp and thin as paper, grinning back at him. It’s the same sort of card that Kid uses as ammunition. “You asked why I’m sad. The thing is, I used to be a Kid fan, but even though no one gets physically hurt too badly at his heists, it’s taken its toll on a friend of mine. I want him to be brought in, but it doesn’t look possible.”

“That’s what he wants you to think,” the child says sulkily. “If something looks like magic, it’s almost always just clever misdirection, if not advanced science. The police keep following false leads and looking in all the wrong places, but if they just focused on finding his real identity, he’d be caught much more quickly. You have to go to the source to find the truth.” 

Of course. He’s been so focused on the little voice in his mind, how could he forget that flash of red that started it all? “Thanks, kiddo,” he says, ruffling the boy’s hair. “You’ve been very helpful.”

“I haven’t met you before, have I?” he asks innocently, ducking out from under Kaito’s hand.

Something half remembered, almost dreamlike, comes to him then. “Fireworks?”

All too late he recognizes the feeling creeping over him as Kaitou Kid.  _ No, _ he wants to say,  _ don’t touch him! He’s innocent! _

_ Not nearly as innocent as you think, _ Kid’s voice purrs.  _ No one’s going to get hurt; we’re just going to have a fun little chase! _

* * *

Kaito tracks down the child (not too hard, given his name and picture in the newspaper) and tries to ask if he’s okay. Conan definitely knows at least part of the truth, because rather than letting Kaito talk to him, he whispers something to his group of friends, and they all go their separate ways. Conan starts heading into shadier areas of town, always staying one step ahead, and Kaito’s starting to get legitimately concerned. It’s no place for a child.

“Hey, hold up! Seriously, I just want to talk,” he calls. This is getting ridiculous; Conan’s led him down an alley of all places, and it’s a dead end.

“Oh?” He turns around suddenly and flips open his watch, settling Kaito in the crosshairs of the lens. Kaito doesn’t even want to know what it fires, but he’s pretty sure it’s not exactly the kind of thing you give to a child. It certainly doesn’t look like a toy. “Fine. Let’s talk. But if I don’t check in within half an hour, my friends will release your identity to the police.”

“What?” The first thought that comes to mind is what’s wrong with this child, because he’s pretty sure kids these days aren’t supposed to be carrying weapons or making threats to people almost three times their age. The second is, what did Kaitou Kid do to make him feel this unsafe around Kaito? “Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. I came to ask if you were okay.”

“I wasn’t aware that your moral code extended to times outside of heists.”

“Can you at least tell me what I did?” Kaito hates begging, but he hates the thought of children getting hurt even more, even if this particular child could star in a horror movie by himself. He needs to know for his own peace of mind.

“Why? I thought your memory was good enough to memorize driver’s license numbers. Can you really not remember our chase?”

Kaito  _ does  _ have an eidetic memory, but it’s disconcerting to hear that Kid seems to share it. The thief’s influence in his mind goes so much deeper than he realized. “Were you in danger of being hurt at any time?”

“Of course not.” He says this like it’s a stupid question.

“Are you scared of me?”

“To be perfectly blunt, your abilities are a threat. You follow a set of self imposed rules, though, which makes you predictable. It’s when I can’t predict you, like when you follow me home from school to ask me things you already know, that you’re ‘scary,’ to use your words.” He looks down at his watch. “If that’s all, I need to go. I’ll keep your secret if you keep mine, but all bets are off at heists. Next time, I’ll arrest you.”

Kaito really doesn’t know what to say to that.

* * *

This is what Kaito has figured out so far:

  1. Kid can only take over when there’s moonlight. He never schedules his heists for daylight or new moons, and shows a slight preference for full moons. The fact that Kaito’s woken up in that library once shows that Kid can’t come out in daylight.
  2. Kid’s prowess at magic far exceeds his own. Is it real magic?
  3. Everything started...or it continues...with the color red.
  4. If there is a way to prevent a heist, Kaito hasn’t found it yet.
  5. He can’t do this anymore. But there’s no one he can trust, not even himself.



It’s this last item in the list that makes him crumple up the paper and throw it into the trash. But it’s true, isn’t it? He’s got two detectives on his case, both of whom know his identity and would throw him into prison first chance they get. (And the tiny one, the one Kid implied is hiding something-- he’s almost as terrifying as Kid himself, but that’s a problem for another time.) The man who raised him after his father died is the worst enemy of the person in his head, and Aoko would probably kill him if she found out he was Kid, even if Kaito didn’t know it either at first. His mom is in Vegas and...well, she’s never been the person he goes to for advice, for good reason. He needs a third option, and he needs it before things get out of hand.

But he doesn’t know where he’s going to find it.

* * *

Kaito has blood on his hands, but the red is gone from his mind. Instead, it’s everywhere; on his gloves, on the rooftop, on the guns in the hands of men in black clothing who lay scattered. Every one of them is dead, arteries neatly sliced by razor sharp cards.

He’s going to be sick. He leans over and retches, but all that comes up is a gem that slides out of his mouth, smooth as honey. It absorbs all the blood from the rooftop, reclaiming it, and then he swears it winks at him.

_ “Thank you for your service.” _

He knows that voice. That’s Kid’s voice. And suddenly he remembers how the red got into his mind in the first place. He found the hidden room behind the portrait, found the gem, and it  _ stole  _ him. It soared into his heart as easily as a bullet and yanked the flesh and bones back into place behind it.

Kaito addresses it by name once more. “Pandora.”


End file.
